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IMRA
Malagasy Institute for Applied Research
ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR
EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE
Profiles of Research Institutions
in Developing Countries
PUBLISHED WITH THE SUPPORT OF
EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE
Profiles of Research Institutions
in Developing Countries
EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE
Profiles of Research Institutions in Developing Countries
Published by TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world,
with the support of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation
ICTP Campus, Strada Costiera 11, 34014 Trieste, Italy
tel: +39 040 2240327, fax: +39 040 224559
e-mail: [email protected], website: www.twas.org
TWAS Executive Director
Mohamed H.A. Hassan
TWAS Public Information Office
Daniel Schaffer, Peter McGrath, Gisela Isten, Tasia Asakawa
Design & Art Direction
Studio Link, Trieste
Printing
Tipografia VdF
This text may be reproduced freely with due credit to the source.
IMRA
Malagasy Institute for Applied Research
ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR
EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE
Profiles of Research Institutions
in Developing Countries
PUBLISHED WITH THE SUPPORT OF
TWAS COUNCIL
President
Jacob Palis (Brazil)
Immediate Past President
C.N.R. Rao (India)
Vice-Presidents
Jorge E. Allende (Chile)
Bai Chunli (China)
Romain Murenzi (Rwanda)
Atta-ur-Rahman (Pakistan)
Ismail Serageldin (Egypt)
Secretary General
Dorairajan Balasubramanian (India)
Treasurer
José L. Morán López (Mexico)
Council Members
Ali A. Al-Shamlan (Kuwait)
Eugenia M. del Piño Veintimilla (Ecuador)
Reza Mansouri (Iran)
Frederick I.B. Kayanja (Uganda)
Keto E. Mshigeni (Tanzania)
Abdul H. Zakri (Malaysia)
Katepalli R. Sreenivasan (ex-officio member)
Foreword
Founded in 1983 and officially launched in 1985 in Trieste, Italy, by the secretary
general of the United Nations, TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world,
is dedicated to the promotion of scientific excellence and research capacity in developing countries.
With an initial membership of 42 ‘Founding Fellows’, TWAS now counts 880 eminent
scientists in 90 countries among its members. More than 85 percent of these scientists
live and work in developing countries. This membership not only gives the Academy insight
into the state of science in developing countries, but also provides a unique network of
individuals and institutions through which the Academy can coordinate its activities.
Among these activities are annual TWAS Prizes designed to honour scientists in the
South for their outstanding work in the fields of agriculture, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, engineering sciences, mathematics, medical sciences and physics. TWAS Prizes
help bring the achievements of scientists working in the South to the attention of their
national governments, providing them with a rare opportunity for recognition in their
home countries. TWAS also offers research grants to individual scientists working in
developing countries, as well as to research groups based in the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) and other science – and technology – lagging countries. In
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addition, in collaboration with the governments of Brazil, China, India and Pakistan,
TWAS oversees the world’s largest South-South fellowship programme. Under this
scheme, young scientists from one developing country visit participating institutions in
another developing country – particularly those mentioned above – to further their
research, often by having access to equipment and materials not available at their home
institution.
Institutions of scientific exellence in the developing world are included in a unique
resource book, Profiles of Institutions for Scientific Exchange and Training in the South,
produced jointly by TWAS and the Commission of Science and Technology for Sustainable
Development in the South (COMSATS), based in Islamabad, Pakistan. The fourth edition of
this book, published in 2007, lists 485 such institutions located in 65 different countries
in the South and outlines their main scientific achievements, facilities and future plans.
Despite the perception that science in the South is lagging behind science being carried out in laboratories in the North, these 485 institutions provide evidence that topquality research can be carried out in developing countries. And with a growing consensus that indigenous capacity in science and technology drives sustainable economic
development, there is a need for more countries in the South to build their own scientific infrastructure – in terms of both human and institutional resources.
The purpose of this series of TWAS publications, which has been generously funded
by the Packard Foundation, is to provide details about individual ‘centres of excellence’,
including how they developed, how their research programmes are organized, their
achievements, their strengths and weaknesses, and – most important – how they can
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act as a model that other governments and organizations can follow when considering
building scientific capacity. In this way, we hope the series will form a ‘blueprint for a
centre of excellence’ that can be used by policy makers and those involved in the administration of national science policies.
The choice of which institutions to include in the series was difficult. However, it was
felt that if the selected institutions all focused on a similar research area, then comparisons between institutions and countries would be simplified, making it easier to draw
valid conclusions once several institutions have been studied. We have therefore taken
advantage of the existence of a network of institutions created thanks to a programme
originally operated by the Third World Network of Scientific Organizations (TWNSO), a
TWAS-affiliated organization also based in Trieste and recently transformed into the Consortium on Science, Technology and Conservation for the South (COSTIS), which focuses on indigenous and medicinal plants and the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Despite the common theme, the institutions profiled in this series cover a wide
range of activities, from the scientific validation of traditional medicines to the use of
modern biotechnology. Taken together, however, these institutions are representative
of a cross-section of countries in the South. They have also been instrumental in taking
indigenous resources – in terms of local biodiversity – and transforming them into
profitable commercial products available on local and international markets. In this
way, these institutions are excellent examples of how capacity in science and technology can lead to innovation and socio-economic development.
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Contents
8
Introduction and History
Then and now
12
14
Drug Development Pathway
Department of Research
Department of Production and Export
Department of Clinics
16
24
25
27
Protecting Madagascar’s Biodiversity
IMRA’s annex stations
Ethnobotanical Unit: the herbarium and botanical garden
28
28
32
Measures of Success
Sweet smell of success: the java plum
Measuring success in terms of training
Product pipeline
36
38
43
44
Research and Commercial Partnerships
Strengths and Weaknesses
45
48
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
51
53
Feature tabs
Key Personnel
Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga (1907-2001),
founder and former president of IMRA
Philippe Rasoanaivo, director of scientific research and director
of the Phytochemistry Laboratory
David Ramanitrahasimbola, head of the pharmacology unit
in the Laboratoire des substances marines et aquatiques
in IMRA’s Department of Research
Suzanne Urverg Ratsimamanga, president of IMRA
23
40
Snapshots
Malaria in Madagascar
Madagascar’s traditional healers
18
34
13
20
9
Introduction
and History
any cultures throughout the world rely on indigenous and medicinal plants for
their primary healthcare needs. Indeed some 25 percent of modern medicines are
derived from plants or plant extracts first used by traditional medical practitioners.
Among the commercial pharmaceutical products based on medicinal plants are two antileukaemia drugs extracted from the Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) and
the anti-diabetic drug, Madeglucyl, produced from the commonly found java plum, Eugenia jambolana (or Syzygium cumini, which was originally a native plant of India).
For more than 40 years, the Malagasy Institute for Applied Research (IMRA) has been
investigating Madagascar’s traditional medicines and food plants, such as the java plum,
which, despite being nutritionally and medically valuable, are often overlooked and
underused by local people.
Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga, former research director at the Centre National de
Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and a pioneer of scientific research in Madagascar,
founded IMRA in 1957. At its inception, IMRA was a non-governmental organization. But
in 1993 it was granted ‘foundation’ status following a government decree. This status
has helped to stabilize the institute’s funding.
Today, IMRA is among Madagascar’s leading research institutions. It is by far the
best-equipped centre in Madagascar dedicated to biodiversity conservation and the discovery of drugs from natural products. In addition, the institute maintains a strong network of collaborations with like-minded institutes in both the developing and developed
world.
M
MALAGASY INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED RESEARCH (IMRA)
• Avarabohitra Itaosy, Antananarivo 102, Madagascar
• tel: +261 20 24 506 91; +261 20 22 381 88
• fax: +261 20 22 304 70
• e-mail: [email protected]
• website: www.imra-ratsimamanga.net
11
Currently under the guidance of Suzanne Urverg Ratsimamanga, IMRA has developed pharmaceutical products from endemic indigenous plants that are used to treat
asthma, cardiovascular problems, diabetes, gastrointestinal ulcers, leprosy, malaria,
nephrolithiasis (kidney stones) and wounds.
While Madagascar did not benefit from the development and commercialization of
the two highly profitable anti-leukaemia drugs from C. roseus, royalties generated by
such products as the highly successful diabetic drug Madeglucyl developed by IMRA
have been ploughed back into IMRA’s research budget and the local economy.
In addition, as a collaborative centre of the World Health Organization (WHO), IMRA
has contributed to national economic development by educating researchers and students, training and assisting the local population, and conserving and protecting biodiversity. IMRA employs a permanent staff of about 150 and provides temporary and seasonal employment for some 15,000 people, mostly from rural areas. It also has its own
medical clinic that offers free medical examinations to patients.
“
12
For more than 40 years, the Malagasy Institute for
Applied Research (IMRA) has been investigating
Madagascar’s traditional medicines and food plants.
”
• In 1929, Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga obtained his undergraduate degree
from the Ecole de Médicine de Befelatanana, Antananarivo, Madagascar. He
then moved to Paris, where he worked as a researcher at the Institut de
Médicine Exotique, Institut Pasteur, and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Internationales. He also found time to earn two doctorates at the Université de
Paris – one in science in 1938 and another in medicine in 1939.
Soon after, Ratsimamanga became research director at the Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and director of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes at
the Faculty of Medicine in Paris until his retirement in 1975. There, he studied hormone
physiology and medicinal plants, mainly from Madagascar where his research focused
on the presence of hormones in food, their role in body development and the existence
of hepatic detoxification substances.
Ratsimamanga skillfully translated his research findings into medical practice. His successes included the development of Cortine, an adreno-cortical extract for treating
post-surgical shock; Madecassol, a cutaneous wound-healing agent isolated from Centella asiatica; and Patelen, for treating hepatitis and allergic reactions.
In 1958, Ratsimamanga founded the Malagasy Institute for Applied Research (IMRA)
with the royalties earned from the commercialization of his discoveries.
Under Ratsimamanga’s leadership, IMRA soon developed into the best-equipped centre
in Madagascar for research into biodiversity conservation and drug discovery from natural products.
During the course of his career, Ratsimamanga published more than 250 scientific articles and 10 books, and was awarded five patents. He was one of the founders of TWAS,
the academy of sciences for the developing world, and the African Academy of Sciences
(AAS), and was vice-president of the executive council of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He also served as a consultant to the
United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
In 2001, shortly before his death, Ratsimamanga was awarded the title ‘International
Man of the Year’ by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK, in recognition
of his services to science and humanity.
KEY PERSONNEL
ALBERT RAKOTO RATSIMAMANGA (1907-2001), founder and
former president of IMRA
13
Then and now
In 1957, Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga invested royalties from his scientific discoveries to establish the Malagasy Institute for Applied Research (IMRA), a centre of scientific research and training built on six hectares of land located near the capital city of
Antananarivo. In addition to IMRA’s headquarters, Ratsimamanga created 14 ‘annex stations’ focusing on the collection of plants and reforestation, and relying on the local,
rural population for its development and maintenance. In all of these initiatives, he successfully combined basic medicinal plant research with the conservation and protection
of biodiversity.
Ratsimamanga’s ultimate goal was to create an institute that focused on understanding the mechanisms by which local medicinal plants and medical practices could
serve as the basis for inexpensive, yet effective, treatments for diseases afflicting the
poorest and least fortunate people of Madagascar. At the same time, he hoped such
efforts could provide livelihoods for the local population and help preserve Madagascar’s unique natural flora and fauna.
“
14
”
IMRA employs a permanent staff of about 150
and provides temporary and seasonal employment
for some 15,000 people, mostly from rural areas.
The institute’s short-term objectives have focused on promoting medicinal plant
compounds and indigenous foods to advance public health and spur sustainable economic development. In the field of nutrition, for example, IMRA has produced foods to
combat calcium and protein deficiencies and to counter malnutrition, especially among
new-borns and young children.
As IMRA has grown, cutting-edge research and the commercial production of pharmaceutical products have remained tightly linked. To date, the institute has developed
and formulated about 40 plant-based drugs to improve nutrition and combat a wide
range of diseases in Madagascar. These include Cortine Naturelle, an adreno-corticol
drug; Madecassol, a wound-healing agent based on extracts from the plant Centella asiatica; Madeglucyl, to treat diabetes; Madetoxyl, an antitoxin agent with potent activity to
counteract hepatitis and alcoholic and drug intoxication; Madetussyl to suppress coughing; malagashanine to combat chloroquine-resistant malaria; Masy calcium to counteract protein and calcium deficiencies; Ody Vato, a phytomedicine to treat kidney stones;
and TMM to fight leprosy.
In addition, over the past half century, IMRA has developed numerous therapeutic
preparations used to treat such ailments as arterial hypertension and asthma. The
development of the safe anti-diabetic medicine, Madeglucyl, from E. jambolana, which is
now widely used both nationally and internationally, represents the institute’s most outstanding success story and helped to make IMRA a globally recognized research centre.
Today, the institute enjoys a well-deserved reputation for excellence in research and
collaborates with many groups, including the science and health ministries, research
centres and universities not only in Madagascar but also in other African nations, Europe
and the United States. It has also forged partnerships with such major pharmaceutical
companies as Sanofi-Aventis and Hoffman LaRoche Switzerland. IMRA’s portfolio of partnerships and scientific successes has attracted many talented Malagasy researchers to
the institute, several of whom had previously settled in Europe only to return home.
Thus its efforts have helped reverse the brain drain that afflicts many African nations.
15
Drug Development
Pathway
MRA is an excellent example of how scientific research can be integrated with
healthcare, conservation and commercial production”, says Philippe Rasoanaivo,
IMRA’s director of scientific research.
To achieve these goals, IMRA maintains well-equipped departments and laboratories
for analyzing and standardizing plant-based drugs and essential oils to combat, for example,
cancer, diabetes and malaria. Its multidisciplinary fields of investigation include biodiversity, drug discovery from plants, marine animals and microorganisms, and phytopharmaceutical formulation. One of IMRA’s main achievements has been a computerized
compilation of the ethnomedical uses of more than 6,500 plants growing in Madagascar,
which is regularly updated thanks to continual ethnobotanical fieldwork. In addition, the
institute maintains a free healthcare centre with a medical analysis laboratory and four
field stations for the cultivation of endemic medicinal and endangered plants.
“I
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THE IMRA CHARTER
• Study Madagascar’s endemic flora to provide scientific knowledge and safeguard
threatened species.
• Develop drugs from Malagasy medicinal plants to aid the poor, rural population.
• Contribute to the improvement of traditional foods and research new sources of nutrition.
• Protect and manage the biodiversity of Madagascar, specifically medicinal and aromatic plants, and pursue research projects concerning agronomy and agroforestry.
• Promote technical and practical training to assist and advance the above activities
and welcome to the institute national and international researchers, trainees and
PhD students.
According to Rasoanaivo, natural products offer a range of structurally diverse molecules that can be exploited as novel lead compounds for drug development either as an
impetus for chemical synthesis or as biochemical tools for better understanding biological processes. In this regard, Madagascar offers excellent opportunities for the discovery of useful drugs or the formulation of relevant phytomedicines. However, because the
science of natural products is multifaceted, successful drug discovery based on natural
products requires multidisciplinary partnerships in which complementary expertise is
a key feature.
“Patents and widely cited publications are testimony to the productivity of research
investments”, explains Philippe Rasoanaivo. “However, such investments do not help
poor countries unless the research is turned into tangible products or improved practices and policies. At IMRA, we have taken drug discovery research projects to the market place while, at the same time, strengthening our research capacity and training
activities. Personally, I have tried to find a balance between business-oriented activities
based on both national needs and global diseases, whose treatments could provide
potential blockbuster profits for developed countries”, he continues.
17
MALARIA IN MADAGASCAR
• Malaria can be treated using different anti-malarial drugs possessing different mechanisms of action. Unfortunately, over the years
and partly due to the incorrect use of these drugs, malaria parasites
(Plasmodium species) have developed resistance to some compounds, rendering certain treatments ineffective. Chloroquine, for
example, was the most widely used anti-malarial until resistance
emerged in the 1960s in both Colombia and Thailand. Since then,
chloroquine resistance has spread to most areas where malaria is
endemic. Although such resistance is now widespread in much of
sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria kills nearly one million people
each year, its frequency remains low in Madagascar. Even so, in the
Malagasy highlands, some two hours from the capital of Antananarivo, the damp climate leaves stagnant pools of water everywhere, which provide breeding grounds for the mosquito, Anopheles
gambiae, whose females transmit malaria when they take a blood
meal. Malaria remains the biggest killer of children in Madagascar –
and many other African countries.
A huge effort is underway by the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) and other UN and international organizations to fight malaria by providing insecticide-treated bed nets that ward off mosquitoes.
Vast distances and poor infrastructure in Madagascar, however, mean
that many people rarely visit health facilities. Health workers and volunteers have tried to overcome this problem by visiting village markets and using entertaining theatrical shows to get the message
across to children and parents. These health workers also warn anyone
experiencing malaria-like symptoms to seek immediate medical care.
Against this background, Philippe Rasoanaivo and his research
team’s discoveries of a phytomedicine to treat chronic malaria and
the alkaloid tazopsine to treat the hepatic stage of the malaria parasite attain all the more significance.
SNAPSHOTS
18
For example, the investigation of the African holly (Ilex mitis), under a research grant
awarded to Rasoanaivo in 1978 by theInternational Foundation of Science (IFS), led to
the local marketing of a wound-healing drug trade-named Fanaferol.
Following the sudden resurgence of malaria in Madagascar in the mid-1980s, people
returned to the large-scale use of herbal remedies. A shortage of conventional drugs
forced many Madagascans to rely on medicines from more than 200 plants to fight
malaria. This in turn triggered scientific interest in Madagascar whose long isolation from
neighbouring countries had created a unique mix of plants and animals.
About this time, Rasoanaivo was awarded a second IFS grant for phytochemical studies of alkaloid-bearing plants, mainly species belonging to the Strychnos genus. Among
the alkaloid compounds previously extracted from such Strychnos plants are strychnine, a poison that can be used medically to stimulate the nervous system, and curare,
used by natives of South America to coat the tips of arrows.
During his research, Rasoanaivo discovered that rural people in Madagascar were
treating malaria with chloroquine (see box, ‘Malaria in Madagascar,’ page 18) – a drug
that has been widely used as a prophylactic treatment against malaria and to which
many strains of the malaria parasite have become resistant – together with a decoction
(a boiled-water induced extract) made from various plants. This ethnobotanical finding
was a key factor in the discovery of alkaloids with unique structures that markedly
enhance the action of chloroquine.
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KEY PERSONNEL
20
PHILIPPE RASOANAIVO, director of scientific research and
director of the Phytochemistry Laboratory
• After obtaining his BSc in chemistry from the University of Madagascar in
1970, Rasoanaivo completed his PhD at the French Centre National de
Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles
in 1975. Since the start of his PhD programme in 1970, when he studied the
Malagasy periwinkle (Catharanthus longifolius), Rasoanaivo has continued
researching Madagascar’s natural products.
In 1976, he returned to Madagascar, and was appointed lecturer at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Antananarivo. Two years later, he was selected head of the
department of chemistry at the Centre National de Recherches Pharmaceutiques. Following
his Fulbright post-doctoral studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1989-1990, his
priorities changed when malaria re-emerged in Madagascar in the 1980s and quickly
became the most devastating tropical disease in the country. He moved on to IMRA to set
up and implement a research programme on malaria, in addition to serving as a full professor at the Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique, University of Antananarivo. This pioneering
programme has put Madagascar on the world map of malaria research and placed him in
the rank of experts in plant-based malaria chemotherapy.
Rasoanaivo has authored nearly 100 articles in peer reviewed journals and more than
70 book chapters and entries in published conference proceedings. He has been awarded nine patents and has supervised more than 30 dissertations and doctoral theses in
science or medicine.
He is a former World Health Organization (WHO) expert in traditional medicine and has
served as a WHO temporary advisor in traditional medicine. He also founded the Natural Products Research Network for Eastern and Central Africa (NAPRECA) branch in
Madagascar. Rasoanaivo played an instrumental role, with colleagues from Uganda
and Ghana, in the adoption of the Decade (2001-2010) of Traditional Medicine in Africa
during the Organization of African Union (OAU) Summit in Lusaka in 2001, and he was
the recipient of the Research Prize 2000, the highest research award in Madagascar.
One year later, he received the International Foundation for Science (IFS) Sven Brohult
Award in recognition of excellence in research and creation of a better scientific environment in developing countries. In 2003 Rasoanaivo was awarded the prestigious
French honour Chevalier des Palmes Académiques Françaises for his outstanding academic achievement. The President of the Republic appointed him Grand Croix de 2ème
Classe in 2006, the highest Malagasy honour. In 2006 he was elected a member of
TWAS and received the Academy’s first CNR RAO Prize for Scientific Research.
In total, three grant-funded research projects on herbal anti-malarial compounds
have resulted in two patents: the first has been applied in the local use of a standardized
chemosensitizing phytomedicine from Strychnos myrtoides to treat chronic malaria.
The second is related to the discovery of a new alkaloid, tazopsine, from Strychnopsis
thouarsii, that is selectively active against the hepatic stage of the malaria parasite.
Tazopsine is the first naturally occurring compound that is active in the liver stage of
malaria parasites. It is important because there are few alternative drugs that tackle
this stage of the parasite’s life cycle which precedes the fever-causing blood-infecting
stage. The discovery of this new class of molecules could lead to the development of a
true causal prophylactic drug. The treatment targets the early stages of malaria infection
when liver stage parasites are much less numerous than blood-stage parasites. This
makes it more difficult for the parasite to develop drug resistance that hampers conventional malaria treatment programmes.
Additional investigations are now underway to bring derivatives of these compounds
into drug development and clinical trials. Tests on chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys
are planned in collaboration with colleagues in Gabon and Thailand.
Collaboration has been key for translating Madagascar’s unique biodiversity into revenue-generating applications that not only provide economic benefits to the keepers of
traditional knowledge but also afford training benefits to young scientists. Rasoanaivo
cites, for example, IMRA’s malaria programme, which has been done in collaboration with
Italian colleagues at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome and the Università degli
Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” and with French colleagues at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle and Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, in Paris, and the Université de Montpellier II
and the Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille.
“
Collaboration has been key for translating Madagascar’s
unique biodiversity into revenue-generating applications.
”
21
At IMRA, three main departments function in an integrated manner:
The Department of Research, which has three areas of activity: discovery of biomolecules in the areas of diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular, inflammatory and respiratory
diseases; biotechnology research, including in vitro micropropagation and investigation
of endophyt fungi and mychorrizas; and analyses. IMRA has fully equipped laboratories
to carry out all these activities.
The Department of Production and Export, which produces nearly 40 plant-based
drugs, nutraceuticals and cosmetics for local use at affordable prices, and exports Centella
asiatica, Drosera ramentacea (the insect-eating sundew plant used to produce a cough
linctus) and other medicinal plants as well as essential oils for commercial purposes.
The latter activity is an important source of income for the institute.
The Department of Clinics, which carries out some 30 medical consultations daily.
Patients may be treated either with phytomedicines, conventional drugs or a combination of the two. The centre offers free healthcare and medical tests.
“
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”
Twenty-five percent of modern medicines
are derived from plants or plant extracts first
used by traditional medical practitioners.
• As head of the pharmacology unit within IMRA’s Department of Research,
David Ramanitrahasimbola works closely with president, Suzanne Urverg
Ratsimamanga, and research director, Philippe Rasoanaivo. Together they
have analyzed the bioactive compounds of Madagascar’s medicinal plants,
studying such endemic species as Adansonnia fony, Budlejia madagascariensis,
Phymatodes scolopendria and Ravenala madagascariensis for their potential to treat
arterial hypertension, asthma and inflammatory diseases.
A researcher in pharmacology at IMRA since 1995, Ramanitrahasimbola focuses primarily on experimental malarialogy and cardiovascular and respiratory systems. He
has authored or co-authored some 20 peer-reviewed papers and three book chapters
on such topics as malagashanine (extracted from the chemosensitizing medicinal
plant Strychnos myrtoides) and its ability to inhibit the chloroquino-resistance of Plasmodium malaria and the bronchodilator activity of Phymatodes scolopendria, a plant
widely used in Madagascar to treat asthma. As a result of his collaborative research on
the anti-asthmatic Phymatodes scolopendria (that has been supported by a Swedish
nongovernmental organization and the IFS, IMRA will soon manufacture a phytomedicine from this plant.
Ramanitrahasimbola is currently investigating the mechanism of action and toxicity of
the molecule responsible for the anti-hypertensive activity of the plant Ravenala madagascariensis.
He completed all his education in Madagascar. He obtained his BSc in biology and
earth sciences from the University of Antananarivo and was awarded his PhD in
pharmacology from the same institution. In addition to his current job responsibilities
at IMRA, Ramanitrahasimbola lectures at the IMAGE-APPLI institute in Madagascar and
supervises students pursuing master’s degrees in pharmacology.
In 2005, he was awarded the title ‘best young scientist’ presenter at the 11th Natural
Products Research Network for Eastern and Central Africa (NAPRECA) symposium and
was recently selected a TWAS Young Affiliate.
KEY PERSONNEL
DAVID RAMANITRAHASIMBOLA, head of the pharmacology unit
in the ‘Laboratoire des substances marines et aquatiques’
in IMRA’s Department of Research
23
Department of Research
In terms of drug discovery and development, the process starts with the Ethnobotany Section that is in charge of collecting and identifying plants. Plants are then
extracted with appropriate solvents and submitted to a panel for biological screening.
Different laboratories collaborate closely to put products through biological screening
procedures that lead to the purification and identification of the agents responsible for
the biological activity and a preliminary understanding of the compound’s mechanism of
action.
Two phytochemistry laboratories focus on extraction, fractionation and purification
of a range of plant-derived molecules. Bioactive compounds are sent to Europe for spectral data recording and the results are sent back to IMRA through internet facilities for
data processing. Three pharmacology laboratories, headed by Suzanne Ratsimamanga
and Adolphe Randriantsoa, focus on various tests, including in vitro tests, conducted on
cellular, parasitic and microbial cultures; isolated organs tests; assessments of blood
pressure and the respiratory system in vivo; and anti-diabetic tests in vivo.
Since 1996, IMRA has maintained a dedicated facility to breed rats, mice, rabbits and
guinea pigs for testing purposes – specifically for the acute and chronic toxicology tests
required if scientists are to proceed from in vitro to in vivo stages of the drug development pathway.
24
Department of Production
and Export
In addition to medicinal cosmetics, essential oils and food additives, the Department of Production and Export manufactures about 40 plant-based drugs to meet the
local population’s current health needs. These drugs are the result of careful research
and are distinguished by their efficacy, absence of toxicity and low price, which makes
them affordable to the Malagasy people. For example, the highly successful anti-diabetic
drug, Madeglucyl, is provided free of charge to more than 6,000 diabetic patients in the
country as part of an ongoing clinical trial.
As a result of such extensive trials, some of the drugs produced by IMRA, such as
Madeglucyl, have merited development by major pharmaceutical companies.
“
”
The Department of Production and Export manufactures
about 40 plant-based drugs to meet the local population’s
current health needs.
25
The Department of Production and Export comprises several units that include:
• an extractor equipped with two reactors, several macerators and one concentrator;
three alembics for essential oils distillation;
• a manufacturing and packaging unit;
• a quality control centre, linked with the research department for analytical chemistry and biological control of plant-based drugs manufactured by the Department of
Production; and
• a collection, drying and sorting unit that prepares plants for export. For example, the
plant Centella asiatica for the preparation of Madecassol; Drosera ramentacea for the
preparation of a cough medicine; and Melaleuca viridiflora, Cinnamomum camphora
and Ravensara aromatica for essential oils.
Drugs produced by IMRA are distributed throughout Madagascar to treat a variety of
diseases, such as asthma, respiratory infections and ear, nose and throat ailments;
hepatic and digestive diseases, including hepatitis, gastroduodenal ulcers and gastritis,
bacterial and parasitic dysentery, diarrhoea and intestinal worms; heart failure and
hypertension; dermatological diseases such as leprosy, ulcers, burns and excema; diabetes; malaria; rheumatism; and urogenital diseases. In addition, IMRA produces a range
of cosmetic drugs and foods to treat infant malnutrition and calcium deficiency, and to
aid weaning.
26
Department of Clinics
The Department of Clinics operates a health centre that provides free medical examinations and inexpensive biomedical tests. Operated by Kiban Cheuck, director of the
Biomedical Department, the clinic is frequented by the neighbouring population and by
many Malagasy who live farther away. Medical examinations are conducted free of
charge, a policy that has been in place since 1957. Doctors frequently examine 30 to 40
patients a day.
“Since the creation of IMRA, such services have been free”, explains Cheuck. “IMRA is
a centre for the poor. Yet others who are not poor still come both for the quality care and
services that we provide. The benefit of our organization is that a patient can do everything in one day. You can’t find this even in the United States or in other developed countries. Our medical services are done quickly, well and inexpensively”.
Cheuck adds that only consultations are free and that patients must pay something
for tests and some medications.
At the clinic, phytomedicines (or plant-based medicines) are preferred over modern
drugs. “We use phytomedicines first and modern medicines second”, confirms Cheuck.
“If I don’t know the plant that can treat the sickness, then I treat the patient with a generic
drug. The only limit is our limit to our knowledge of plants”.
27
Protecting Madagascar’s
Biodiversity
IMRA’s annex stations
Madagascar is considered one of the world’s 25 ‘biodiversity hotspots’ along with the other
Indian Ocean islands that split off from the African continent some 160 million years ago.
This long period of isolation helped create an island with thousands of examples of
endemic species – species that are found nowhere else on Earth. Indeed some 98 percent of Madagascar’s land mammals, 91 percent of its reptiles and 80 percent of its
flowering plants (including the representatives of eight entire plant families) are endemic.
Madagascar’s flagship species, the lemurs, are 100 percent endemic and include 33 different species.
28
IMRA’S ANNEX STATIONS AND THEIR ACTIVITIES
Mangoro
6 hectares
Centre for the collection and distillation of aromatic
plants. Maintains a 1,700 litre still.
Moramanga
3 hectares
Important regional collection and drying centre
for medicinal plants, particularly Centella asiatica.
Maintains a still for the production of essential oils.
Ampasimpotsy
3 hectares
Varied cultures.
Ampanatoamaizina
50 hectares
Local population responsible for reforestation.
Entire village involved in the production
of essential oil from Melaleuca viridiflora.
Industrial plant cultures.
Ambohimena
13 hectares
Reforestation and cultivation of Eucalyptus
citriodora, globulus and robusta.
Andranovaky
93 hectares
Protection of endangered plants. Research
station for improvement of food cultures.
Cultivation of medicinal plants, such as Eucalyptus
citriodora, Artemisia annua (an anti-malarial plant),
Spilanthes acnella and Cinnamomum camphora.
Ambatolampy
43 hectares
Reforestation and cultivation of Eucalyptus
robusta and E. raculata, Pinus khana and
P. dalula.
Anjozorobe
100 hectares
Reforestation and important cultivation
of Quinquina.
Avarabohitra
(Pilot station)
6 hectares
Important regional centre of collection of all
medicinal plants used in manufacture of
IMRA’s drugs, and for such exported plants
as Centella asiatica and Drosera ramentacea.
Marozevo
2 hectares
Fruit trees cultivated and Eucalyptus citriodora.
Anosibe’An’Ala
and Analabe
Ivato
Two important collection stations for medicinal
plants, especially Centella asiatica.
3 hectares
Nosy Be
Mahabo
Cultivation of Eucalyptus robusta.
Cultivation of various medicinal plants.
4 hectares
Culture of medicinal and endangered plants.
29
The protection and preservation of Madagascar’s unique fauna and flora have always
been primary objectives of IMRA. In addition to IMRA’s headquarters near the capital city,
where most of the scientific research, quality control and drug production are carried
out, the institute’s founding director, Ratsimamanga, created 14 annex stations that
focus on the sustainable collection of medicinal and aromatic plants and the replanting
of denuded areas of forest.
Directed by an agronomist and a forestry engineer, the annex stations are closely
linked with the rural population. Their mandate is to:
• supervise gathering, drying and preparation of medicinal and aromatic plants collected or cultivated by rural population;
• provide advice and assistance to rural population on cultivating medicinal and food
plants; and
• protect the environment and work with local population on reforestation.
At several of the annex stations, entire villages participate in such IMRA activities as
the gathering of plants and production of essential oils. At the Ampanatoamaizina station, for example, the entire village of some 170 people is involved in planting the aromatic tree, Melaleuca viridiflora, that provides an antiseptic essential oil. The village
operates two stills set up by IMRA. Local residents have been trained to use the stills and
produce the essential oil that is then sold to IMRA.
30
In this way, an isolated rural village that previously had few resources has been able
to generate an income without damaging the surrounding forest (IMRA provides courses
for local people, giving instructions on the sustainable collection of plant products). By
involving local people in such activities, IMRA has increased the income of several thousand rural families by 50 percent, in addition to cultivating and protecting many endemic
plant species.
The Ampanatoamaizina station itself is located near the country’s east coast and
sits amid a 500-hectare forest concession that was given to IMRA by the state on the
understanding that IMRA would ensure its reforestation and the sustainable cultivation
of native medicinal and aromatic plants. In total, IMRA’s annex stations cover 250
hectares (plus another 500 hectares at the Ampanatoamaizina site). More than 3,000
people are involved in the collection of plants, creating more than 100 collection points.
An additional 2,000 people are employed seasonally to collect the seeds of Eugenia
jambolana, the plant used in the production of the anti-diabetic drug, Madeglucyl.
“
”
Madagascar is considered one of the world’s 25 ‘biodiversity
hotspots’. The protection and preservation of its unique fauna
and flora have always been primary objectives of IMRA.
31
Ethnobotanical Unit: the herbarium
and botanical garden
The Ethnobotanical Unit, directed by Madagascar’s most eminent specialist in systematic botany, Armand Rakotozafy, is dedicated to the collection of Madagascar’s endemic
plants, particularly those that are endangered. Rakotozafy has an encyclopedic knowledge of most of the plant species that exist in Madagascar, information that is vital to the
safeguarding of Madagascar’s biodiversity.
Each year the Ethnobotanical Unit organizes eight to fifteen field expeditions to collect endemic plants, both those that have medicinal properties and those that are
endangered. The goal is to cultivate them in the botanical garden or at one of the annex
stations. In 2006, IMRA scientists collected 400 samples of plants for research purposes,
for cataloging in the herbarium, and for the production of pharmaceuticals. Traditional
healers often accompany these field expeditions to share their empirical knowledge of
Madagascar’s medicinal plants. In addition, soil samples are collected for research being
carried out in collaboration with other laboratories to examine rare actinomycetes and
hyphomycetes – soil-dwelling microorganisms – that produce bioactive metabolite compounds.
32
“
”
About 50 percent of traditional healers’ knowledge that
has been checked by IMRA scientists has been validated
by rigorous research.
Back at the laboratory, the collected plants are examined and the information,
including their vernacular names, ethnobotanical uses and scientific identification, is
entered into a database. Of Madagascar’s 12,000 plant species, some 6,500 have
already been identified and logged into the database – a database that is rapidly becoming a valuable resource not only for the conservation of the island’s biodiversity, but also
for helping scientists seek out potentially useful plant compounds to enter into the drug
discovery pathway.
IMRA’s botanical garden covers three hectares. In addition to the forest and fruit
trees, some 100 plants from all parts of Madagascar are cultivated, each one clearly
labelled with its scientific and vernacular names. In the 80 percent of cases where the
cultivated plants have medicinal properties, the labels also highlight their therapeutic
uses. There is also a rock garden where many endangered plants, including examples of
the families Didieraceae and Orchidaceae, are cultivated. In addition, there are Pachypodium
species (family Apocynaceae), 20 of the 25 known species of which are endemic to
Madagascar, and many other medicinal and aromatic plants that are intrinsic to Malagasy
culture. Rakotozafy is also responsible for the botanical garden, assisted by an agronomist and seven gardeners, who care for the garden and tree nursery. Rakotozafy is also
currently developing a seed collection, or genebank, to provide additional safeguards for
the protection of Madagascar’s rare plants.
33
MADAGASCAR’S TRADITIONAL HEALERS
• According to IMRA’s president, Suzanne Urverg Ratsimamanga,
about 50 percent of traditional healers’ knowledge that has been
checked by IMRA scientists has been validated by rigorous
research.
“Traditional healers are clever people”, says Ratsimamanga. “They
make up for their lack of formal education by being good observers.
The methods used by traditional healers are important to IMRA. They
provide us with precious information”, she adds.
Indeed, IMRA’s founder, Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga, worked hard
to overcome the distrust held by traditional healers for outsiders.
Healers believed that traditional knowledge should stay within the
family. From 1975 to 1980, he used radio announcements to
request the help of the nation’s healers. Now there is an association of about 5,000 traditional healers, l’Association Nationale des
Tradipraticiens Malagasy, which has been recognized officially by
the Malagasy Ministry of Health since 2002. It was established to
protect traditional healers’ rights and their extensive knowledge of
Madagascar’s medicinal plants and healing properties.
All traditional healers use plants in their treatment of sickness and
disease. Tazopsine, for example, a compound derived from tree
bark that is being analyzed by IMRA for its potential to treat the
early stages of malaria, is the sole ingredient in a traditional tea
prescribed by healers to treat the disease.
“
34
”
Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga worked hard
to overcome the distrust held by traditional
healers for outsiders.
The Ministry of Health recognizes four types of traditional healers:
accoucheuses, who are midwives; herboristes, who are plant vendors; medico-drogistes, who are healers that use remedies from
animals or mineral products; and traditherapeutes, who are traditional practitioners working on various diseases as well as burns
and fractures.
In 1996, the Ministry of Health gave traditional healers the provisional right to treat people and in 1997 the Ministry promoted traditional medicine as a legitimate practice. Cultivating the relationship begun by Rakoto Ratsimamanga, IMRA continues to work with
the best of Madagascar’s traditional healers. The institute sends
researchers into the field to speak with village chiefs to find out
which healers are the most effective and knowledgeable.
In addition, IMRA takes care of the intellectual property rights related to traditional knowledge and the equitable sharing of benefits.
SNAPSHOTS
35
Measures
of Success
y seeking the right reseachers and acquiring the right equipment, IMRA has become
Madagascar’s pre-eminent ‘centre of excellence’ for the conservation of biodiversity and the discovery of drugs from natural products. The institute also maintains a
strong network of collaborations with institutions in the North and South that help provide additional expertise and access to cutting-edge scientific equipment.
Despite the excellent reputation that IMRA has developed for itself since its inception,
measures of scientific success can be difficult to quantify. There are, however, certain
research and development ‘outputs’ that can be assessed.
For example, since 1957, IMRA scientists have published about 300 papers in international journals. The institute has also had major scientific successes with the discovery
B
36
of such drugs as the anti-diabetic Madeglucyl; malagashanine for the reversion of malarial treatment chemoresistance; the highly effective wound-healing agent, Madecassol;
an antitoxin agent with potent activity in hepatitis, alcoholic and drug intoxication called
Madetoxyl; the adreno-cortical drug Cortine Naturelle; tazopsine, which is active in the
hepatic stage of the malaria parasite; and pervilleines, resistance modulators in cancer
isolated from the endemic plant Erythroxylum pervillei and which are in the pre-clinical
stage of drug development in the United States. In addition, IMRA produces some 40
herbal medicines, or phytodrugs, that are used to treat common ailments and are affordable for the local Malagasy population.
Suzanne Urverg Ratsimamanga provides her definition of IMRA’s success: “First, success for IMRA is defined by our ability to promote and safeguard Madagascar’s endemic
flora. Second”, continues Ratsimamanga, “is our excellent relationship with traditional
healers who have told us, for example, that ‘this plant is for malaria’ and who have
opened up so many new research avenues. We have an extraordinary relationship with
them because we have always respected them”.
Indeed, founder and former president of IMRA, Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga and his
successor (and wife) Suzanne Urverg Ratsimamanga worked hard to give traditional
healers more status. “They used to be considered charlatans and unreliable”, explains
Urverg Ratsimamanga. “Now, in Madagascar, they have recognition and a better image”.
In addition, traditional healers have been educated by IMRA staff on unsafe practices
concerning, for example, such issues as toxicities and poisonous plants, and they have
been taught to be more productive.
“The third measure of our success has been the development of IMRA and its scientific research”, adds Urveg Ratsimamanga.
“
”
IMRA has become Madagascar’s pre-eminent ‘centre
of excellence’ for the conservation of biodiversity
and the discovery of drugs from natural products.
37
Sweet smell of success: the java plum
For more than 40 years, IMRA has been investigating the traditional medicines and food
plants of Madagascar that, despite being nutritionally and medically valuable, are often
overlooked and underused by local people. The discovery of an anti-diabetic drug from
the local java plum tree, Eugenia jambolana (or rotra as it is known in Madagascar), by
Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga and Suzanne Urverg Ratsimamanga, has become one of
IMRA’s most interesting and successful research projects.
In 1965, the two began to work with local traditional healers. Their curiosity was
aroused when they came across a simple way of diagnosing diabetes: healers were asking their patients to urinate close to an anthill and then observing how the ants reacted.
Ants usually avoid urine, but the urine of people suffering from diabetes contains a great
deal of sugar that attracts the insects. Patients with sweet-tasting urine (at least to the
ants) were thus diagnosed as diabetic and prescribed E. jambolana by the healers. Once
the scientists discovered this, they began to conduct laboratory work on the potential
medicinal properties of this plant.
From 1967 until 1985, the Ratsimamangas studied and experimented with E. jambolana at both IMRA and the National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris,
France.
38
Trials on laboratory rats conducted over several generations showed that Madeglucyl
did indeed alleviate the symptoms of diabetes. Additional experiments and tests showed
that the drug is not toxic, does not cause cancer or lead to the malformation of embryos
and has no other detrimental side effects.
In 1984, the Ratsimamangas patented their discovery of the antidiabetic properties
of E. jambolana in France. Additional tests have since established that a formulation,
now sold under the trade name Madeglucyl, is stable and consistently effective as a
treatment for diabetes.
In 1996, a second license was issued and granted the product international recognition.
Following this, in December 1997, Madeglucyl was registered as a licensed medicine in
Madagascar. At present, some 6,000 diabetic Malagasy patients receive Madeglucyl, most of
them free of charge, as part of the ongoing clinical trial process. More recently, diabetic
patients in Germany and the United States have become involved in the ongoing trials.
The main features of Madeglucyl include:
• it improves the ability of the body’s tissues to absorb glucose, thus enhancing the
effectiveness of insulin;
• it reduces the daily insulin required by type I insulin-dependent patients by nearly
40 percent;
• when used on patients with type II diabetes, it returns glycaemia rates to normal levels within three to six months in 75 percent of cases. It has proven particularly effective for obese patients, whose glycaemia rates start to decline after 15 days and
return to normal within three months (again in 75 percent of cases); and
• in some cases, it has improved the functioning of the kidneys and relieved some of
the eye problems that can be caused by diabetes.
In addition to providing an effective anti-diabetic drug and the royalties that such
success brings, the java plum has been made into jams, jellies and health drinks that
provide a valuable source of nutrition. Although Malagasy traditional healers have been
successfully using E. jambolana to relieve the symptoms of diabetes, its full potential
had never been exploited, mainly because there was a general lack of knowledge and
interest in collecting, using, and preserving java plums. Until IMRA launched its project
to evaluate the potential of E. jambolana in 1970, much of this valuable resource had
been ignored and wasted.
39
KEY PERSONNEL
SUZANNE URVERG RATSIMAMANGA, President of IMRA
• Suzanne Urverg Ratsimamanga obtained her BSc in Paris in 1953, followed
two years later by her Diploma in Industrial Hygiene and Medicine. She
received her MSc in biochemistry in 1963 before obtaining her Docteur èsSciences d’Etat in Paris and a doctorate in biology from the London College
of Applied Science, UK, in 1969.
In addition to her current role as president of the Malagasy Institute for
Applied Research (IMRA), she also directs the Tropical Nutrition Laboratory at
the French University, Paris, and heads the department of biochemistry at the
University of Madagascar, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Her research interests include traditional medicine, medicinal plants (particularly those
with anti-malarial properties) and tropical nutrition. She has studied the relationship
between corticosteroids and ovarian hormones, and has explored a new approach for
the treatment of leprosy. For more than 40 years, she collaborated closely with IMRA’s
founder and her husband, Albert Rakota Ratsimamanga, first in the laboratory of the
National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS), Paris, then as director of the French
University’s Tropical Nutrition Laboratory and later at IMRA. Her research was fundamental to the discovery of the anti-diabetic drug, Madeglucyl, that was patented in
France in 1984.
In 2001, following the death of Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga, Suzanne Urverg Ratsimamanga became president of IMRA.
Urverg Ratsimamanga also serves as a consultant on traditional medicine for the World
Health Organization (WHO), a member of the governing council for the African Academy
of Sciences (AAS) and, since 1989, a Fellow of TWAS.
“
40
”
IMRA is searching for partners in the food industry so
that java plum jams and jellies can be produced and
marketed on a commercial scale.
Now, through IMRA’s efforts, java plums are preserved to produce a range of tasty and
healthy foods that are rich in sugars, mineral salts, vitamins C and PP (which fortifies the
beneficial effects of vitamin C), anthocyans, flavonoids and other beneficial compounds.
IMRA is searching for partners in the food industry so that java plum jams and jellies
can be produced and marketed on a commercial scale. Nutritionists are also looking for
other ways of using this fruit and have had particularly interesting and well-received
results from a java plum wine. The plums, both fresh and dried, also may have potential
in the expanding exotic fruits market of developed countries.
IMRA’s work with E. jambolana has also helped to protect the environment and slow
the pace of deforestation.
In the past, java plum trees were often felled for timber or fuel or to clear land for crop
cultivation. Since the plums’ medical uses have been discovered and become well
known, such destructive practices have declined. At the same time, rural people have
generated extra income from seed collection (in Madeglucyl production, the seeds are
the most important part of the tree and must be collected and processed when they are
at the correct stage of ripeness).
It took IMRA several years to devise an efficient seed collecting system. The problem
proved complicated because the plant products that the institute needs perish very
quickly. The answer was to train local people in the best ways to collect and dry the
seeds. The work is relatively easy and the pay is good, especially for people with few
alternative sources of income. By 1998, annual harvests of 20 tons were being gathered
during relatively brief collection seasons (the fruits mature during the rainy season,
which runs from February to April).
In recent decades, many medicinal plants from the developing world have been
exploited by pharmaceutical companies from the developed world without the benefits
being shared with the native country. Catharanthus roseus is a classic example. The
plant grows in Madagascar but is harvested and marketed as an important anti-cancer
agent by a multinational pharmaceutical company.
IMRA’s E. jambolana project has helped to redress this imbalance. As a result, the
country of origin of the plant resource now enjoys the economic and health benefits
from this effort. Indeed, since the development of the anti-leukaemia drugs from C. roseus,
many countries have signed up to an international protocol, the 1992 Convention on
Biological Diversity, which gives countries sovereign rights over their biological
resources. The agreement aims to prevent so-called ‘bio-piracy’, whereby a company
41
from another country exploits a biological resource without giving anything back to the
host country.
Kiban Cheuk, IMRA’s medical director, defines the institute’s success as “The production of things that are useful to the Malagasy population”. He notes that if such
efforts help others, all the better.
IMRA is currently establishing partnerships with private companies in France and
other European countries to build a production unit where pharmaceuticals can be manufactured according to international manufacturing standards and practices. This unit
will initially produce enough Madeglucyl to meet the demand in Madagascar. In the
future, IMRA hopes to expand distribution to other African markets. However, for now,
Madeglucyl is produced for local markets only.
The success of the E. jambolana project could easily be applied to other countries,
especially those bordering the Indian Ocean where the plant grows naturally and extensively. The process of producing Madeglucyl from seeds is protected by international
license. But commercial agreements could be signed with both public and private sector
agencies in other developing and developed countries to allow this safe and affordable
diabetes treatment to be made available to patients worldwide. IMRA and INDENA have
signed an accord to jointly market Madeglucyl on an international scale. IMRA is particularly interested in working with national health authorities in African countries to establish commercial links for the sharing of Madeglucyl.
42
Measuring success in terms of training
Another measure of scientific output is the number of students that receive advanced
training. IMRA researchers, including four professors from the University of Antananarivo, assist students in the preparation of their doctorate theses in science, medicine and
dental medicine, and engineering. IMRA’s Philippe Rasoanaivo, for example, has supervised more than 30 dissertations and doctoral theses in science and medicine. Medical
and chemical engineering technicians are also trained at IMRA. Foreign researchers from
Africa and neighbouring islands are welcome to pursue all or part of the work for their
thesis at IMRA. Post-doctoral scientists from abroad are also encouraged to spend time
in IMRA’s laboratories.
In the past, IMRA has organized summer schools to teach the modern techniques of
in vivo and in vitro testing, as well as the screening of activities and valorization of
medicinal plants and other natural resources. In September 1994, researchers from
Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda took advantage of this training and, with several Malagasy researchers, worked closely with French and Canadian specialists.
Researchers at IMRA have also been appointed by the Faculty of Medicine at the
University of Antananarivo to teach biochemistry to medical students. Each year, 300
students, in groups of 25, receive high-level theoretical and practical training. Among the
trainees are those intending to specialize in biochemistry.
In addition to academic training, IMRA has implemented training programmes for the
rural population in the sustainable cultivation, harvest and ultimate sale of medicinal
plants and plant products.
For example, IMRA buys such medicinal plants as Centella asiatica – used as a
wound-healing drug and also to increase mental concentration and combat ageing –
from several local communities. “Large amounts of Centella asiatica are needed for
export and for the production of drugs”, explains Suzanne Urveg Ratsimamanga, adding
that: “IMRA pays community workers by the kilogramme to collect the plants. We guarantee the villagers that we will pay them well for their services. No one is exploited.”
For many Malagasy people, their cash incomes have increased by about 50 percent.
For example, after a brief training period, local people found that the task of java plum
seed collecting and drying (necessary in IMRA’s production of the anti-diabetic drug
Madeglucyl) provided relatively easy work and good pay in an area where there are few
alternative sources of cash income.
43
Product pipeline
Competing with multinational drug companies – albeit on a much smaller scale –
requires not only a successful portfolio of products, but also a strong ‘product pipeline’.
In many ways, the strength of a research institution such as IMRA should be measured
less by its current products and more by what it is currently developing and has the
potential to produce in both the near-future and the long-term. Using such a measure of
success, IMRA stands alongside the best institutions in the developing world and competes favorably with many institutions in developed countries.
Based on the results of an integrated approach to screening medicinal plants used
traditionally to treat infectious and parasitic diseases, in July 2004, the French institute
CNRS signed a protocol with the University of Antananarivo to pursue a bioprospecting
programme with the active participation of IMRA. The project, run by IMRA’s Philippe
Rasoanaivo in Madagascar, is progressing well and results are expected soon.
Researchers anticipate new compounds to be discovered from this activity, while relevant data with strong ethnobotanical support are exploited locally.
IMRA’s latest area of interest is the search for drugs to treat such chronic degenerative diseases as diabetes and cognitive impairment, focusing on the role of methylglyoxal. This work is being done in collaboration with Uppsala University in Sweden. Patents
have recently been granted on the bioactive constituents of two promising medicinal
plants, and data are still being treated confidentially.
IMRA’s European colleagues are currently developing the anti-malarial drugs malagashanine and tazopsine by synthesizing several derivatives for drug optimization. In
addition, new tropane alkaloids endowed with resistance modulating activities in multiple drug resistant (MDR) cancer, extracted from the stem bark of Erythroxylum pervillei,
a tree endemic to southern Madagascar, are now in the early pre-clinical stage of drug
development under the Rapid Access to Invention for Development (RAID) programme
overseen by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). IMRA will receive royalties under
a memorandum of agreement between IMRA and NIH once a drug is on the market. The
process, however, is likely to be lengthy.
44
Research and Commercial
Partnerships
MRA maintains a strong network of collaborations with local, African and Northern
institutes. As scientific research director, Philippe Rasoanaivo, points out: “The science of natural products is multifaceted. As a result, successful drug discovery, based
on natural products, requires multidisciplinary partnerships marked by complementary
expertise”.
Rasoanaivo cites as an example IMRA’s collaboration with Italian and French institutions to find an effective drug for use in the treatment of malaria in Madagascar. The
research programme focused on the search for naturally occurring compounds that
could reverse chloroquine resistance. The collaborative effort resulted in the discovery
of several chemosensitizing alkaloids. One, malagashanine (isolated from the Malagasy
plant, Strychnos myrtoides), has been targeted as a candidate for further development.
I
45
IMRA has also signed a memorandum of agreement with the University of Illinois,
USA, for pre-clinical development of tropane alkaloid polyesters as chemosensitizers in
multiple drug resistant (MDR) cancer.
In 1999, following the creation of the Research Initiative for Traditional Anti-malarial
Methods (RITAM) in Tanzania, IMRA collaborated with the Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris,
to screen plant extracts against the hepatic stage of malaria. This resulted in the isolation of a new morphinan alkaloid named tazopsine, for which a derivative N-cyclopentyltazopsine is now under further pre-clinical investigation. Based on the results and the
research methods used, in July 2004, the French institute CNRS signed a protocol with
the University of Antananarivo for a bioprospecting programme, appointing Rasoanaivo
head of the project in Madagascar.
IMRA not only collaborates with research institutes, but also encourages commercial
partnerships.
“
46
”
Pharmaceutical companies based in Europe, North America
and elsewhere ask us to collaborate with them because they
are interested in drug discovery.
“Pharmaceutical companies based in Europe, North America and elsewhere ask us to
collaborate with them because they are interested in drug discovery”, explains Suzanne
Urverg Ratsimamanga. “They are also interested in endemic plants. They often discover
new molecules in IMRA’s collection of plants”.
Concerning funding, Rasoanaivo says: “Stable and sufficient funding is necessary to
start a successful research program, as are funding activities generated by the marketing of biodiversity (the export of plants). We are moving towards self-sufficiency and
self-sustainability by implementing successfully funded research projects with extensive training components. And we are bringing such research into development through
income-generated programmes.”
Sanofi-Aventis, for example, patented the chemical structure of the anti-diabetic
drug, Madeglucyl, and LaRoche-Navarron (now Hoffman LaRoche Swiss) patented the
adreno-corticol drug, Cortine Naturelle (now Cortine).
Among IMRA’s current international partners are: Aventis, Corporation Francaise,
Hoffman LaRoche, Université de Bruxelles a Louvains (on standardization and essential
oils projects), Université Libre de Bruxelles (on biodiversity projects), the US National
Institutes of Health (NIH) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
IMRA also collaborates closely with universities in Madagascar in training students
and on research projects. In addition, IMRA provides a consultancy service to Madagascar’s
Ministry of Health, offering advice on how to establish and implement new drug registration procedures.
47
Strengths and
Weaknesses
uch long-established and on-going collaborations with both research institutes and
the commercial pharmaceutical sector indicate that IMRA is doing many things correctly.
According to Suzanne Urverg Ratsimamanga, the institute’s greatest strength “is
that it is well-known, strong, totally involved, committed, proud and that its researchers
are well trained”.
Factors that contribute to IMRA’s continuing success are highlighted on the next
page. Among these strengths are IMRA’s success in drug discovery based on natural
products, the institute’s support for traditional medicines, its protection of biodiversity
and the free healthcare it provides for the Malagasy people, which helps build trust with
the local residents, including traditional healers.
However, as a research organization in a developing country there is still plenty of
room for improvement. Ratsimamanga admits that IMRA’s major weaknesses are a lack
of marketing capacity, especially as the institute does not distribute its products widely outside Madagascar. “We are scientists, not sales people”, she explains.
S
48
IMRA’S STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
Strengths
• As a private, non-profit institute, IMRA is scientifically autonomous. This reduces
bureaucracy.
• Its location in a biodiversity hotspot ensures almost unlimited raw materials for
drug discovery from natural products. IMRA is also seen as protecting this
biodiversity.
• Scientists can tap into the traditional knowledge base and reinforce traditional
medicine practices.
• Well-trained researchers – most have received training in the US or Europe. Extra
training is provided if required.
• Strong collaborations with foreign institutions and collaboration with industry,
which allows royalties to feed back into the research and development budget.
Weaknesses
• A lack of or inadequate materials. Sometimes orders are not met due to IMRA’s
limited budget or high prices for imported material and equipment, which slows
research.
• Limited access to on-line literature.
• Lack of marketing capacity. Product presentation and marketing need to be
improved.
• Product distribution is limited primarily to Madagascar.
“
”
Collaborations with both research institutes and the
commercial pharmaceutical sector indicate that IMRA
is doing many things correctly.
49
Conclusions
IMRA – a truly unique institute in the developing world – operates independently of
any government or charitable funding. The goal of founder Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga
was to create an institute that focused on understanding the ways by which local medicinal plants and medical practices could serve as the basis for inexpensive, yet effective,
treatments for the poorest and least fortunate people of Madagascar, while preserving
Madagascar’s natural flora and fauna. Current president Suzanne Urverg Ratsimamanga
stays true to the vision of her late husband while continuing to develop IMRA into a globally recognized ‘centre of excellence’. The institute has been fortunate to have her leadership following the passing of Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga in 2001.
Thanks to IMRA’s current partnerships – especially those that result in royalties from
commercial companies – allied to Madagascar’s rich, endemic flora, the continued success of the institute is virtually guaranteed. However, increasing IMRA’s financial income
to maintain its operations will be a challenge and increasing access to materials, equipment and scientific literature in what is one of the world’s 50 least developed countries
(LDCs) remains a major obstacle. In addition, given that the leadership of the institute
has remained ‘in the family’, so to speak, since its inception in 1957, IMRA’s preparation
of future leaders and key personnel will also be critical to its future success. The employment of eminent scientists such as Philippe Rasoanaivo and Armand Rakotozafy, the
institute’s ability to attract indigenous talent back from contracts abroad, and its effective training programme, however, suggest that IMRA’s future is in good hands – for the
benefit of science in general and the health of the local Malagasy people in particular.
51
Acknowledgements
The author of this report, Kate Willis, a freelance writer employed by the TWAS Public
Information Office, would like to thank staff at IMRA for the information they provided.
She would especially like to thank IMRA’s scientific research director, Philippe Rasoanaivo,
and the head of the pharmacology unit in the Laboratoire des substances marines et
aquatiques, David Ramanitrahasimbola, for their help. In addition, she would also like to
thank Sheila K. Reiss, a graduate student at the Harvard University’s School of Public
Health, who prepared a report for TWAS following her visit to IMRA on a TWAS-Harvard
Internship in 2004. Reiss, in turn, is indebted to Suzanne Urverg Ratsimananga for her
hospitality at IMRA and as a source of detailed information on the institute, its history
and its current research programmes.
TWAS
• ICTP Campus, Strada Costiera 11,
34014 Trieste, Italy
• Tel: +39 040 2240 327
• Fax: +39 040 224 559
• e-mail: [email protected]
• website: www.twas.org
53
TWAS
TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world, is an autonomous international organization that promotes scientific capacity and excellence in the South. Founded in 1983 by a
group of eminent scientists under the leadership of the late Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam, TWAS
was officially launched in Trieste, Italy, in 1985, by the secretary-general of the United Nations.
TWAS has 880 members from 90 countries, over 85 percent of whom live and work in developing countries. A Council of 13 members is responsible for supervising the Academy affairs.
TWAS is assisted in the administration and coordination of programmes by a small secretariat,
headed by the executive director. The secretariat is located on the premises of the Abdus Salam
International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. UNESCO is responsible for
the administration of TWAS funds and staff. A major portion of TWAS funding is provided by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the government of Italy.
The main objectives of TWAS are to:
• recognize, support and promote excellence in scientific research in the South;
• provide promising scientists in the South with research facilities necessary for the advancement of their work;
• facilitate contacts between individual scientists and institutions in the South;
• encourage South-North cooperation between individuals and centres of scholarship.
To achieve these objectives, TWAS is involved in various activities and collaborates with a number of organizations, especially UNESCO, ICTP and the International Council for Science (ICSU).
For additional information, see www.twas.org.
THE DAVID AND LUCILE PACKARD FOUNDATION
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation was created in 1964 by David Packard (1912–1996),
co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard Company, and his wife, Lucile Salter Packard (1914–1987).
Throughout their lives in business and philanthropy, the Packards sought to use private funds
for public good.
Guided by the founders' values, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation supports both people
and organizations with the aim of enabling the creative pursuit of science; conserving and
restoring the Earth's natural systems; improving the lives of children; and advancing reproductive health.
For additional information, see www.packard.org.
EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE
This series of booklets – published by TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing
world – highlights successful scientific institutions in the South and explains how their
research has both been sustained over a number of years and is helping their host nations
achieve sustainable economic development.